Uncut UK – October 2019

60 • UNCUT• OCTOBER 2019

RECORDED:SIN-É,NEWYORK,

JULY/AUGUST 1993

RELEASED:“LIVEATSIN-É” EP,

NOVEMBER23, 1993

FromBuckley’sfirstrelease,
anEPchroniclingsomeof
hisregularlivesetatthe
Manhattancoffeebar
MICHAELTIGHE(guitar):Jeff
wassucha virtuosicsinger,
probablyoneofthemost
giftedsingerswe’veever
had.Soa lotofhismusical
expressioncamefromthat,
whichis whyhedidsomany
coversongs,whyhedidso
muchimprovisationinthe
liveshows.I thinkthatwas
hisrealgift,soofcoursehe’s
goingtoexplorethatmore
than,say,songwriting.
DAVELORY(manager):
Hecouldshitonthestageat
Sin-éandeverybodywould
applaud.Theylovedhim.
MARYGUIBERT(mother):Hehada
photographicmemory– someonewould
shoutouta songfromtheaudienceandhe’d
justrememberthesongfromhavingheardit,
andplayit,withallthechords.Whenyou’re
asgoodatit ashewas,it wasn’tdifficultto
workoutthechordprogressionstothings.
He’dtakeallhisfavouritesandparodythem,
putfunnywordsinbetweensongs.
TIGHE:Selfishly,I likedwhenhewoulddo
“TheWayYoungLoversDo”or“Sweet
Thing”,becauseI wastheone who turned
him ontoAstral Weeks.

“Hedidsomuch improvisation”: performingat Sin-éin New York City, 1993

STEVEABBOTT(Big Catlabelboss,friend): Iremember“TheWay YoungLoversDo”,which I didn’tknow.A girl cameuptohimandsaid, “Icriedthewholeway throughthatsong,what didyouwriteit about?” Andhesaid,“Uh,it was byVanMorrison.”She waslike,“What?!”

RECORDED:NEWYORK,

FEBRUARY 1993

RELEASED:YOU& I,

MARCH11, 2016

AvibrantSly& TheFamily Stonecover,recordedin an earlystudiosessionand unreleasedfor 23 years TIGHE:I lovedit whenJeff woulddotheSlystuff in thoseearlydays! STEVEADDABBO(producer,engineer): Idon’tthinkJeffreallyknewwhathewanted todo.Helovedmusic,it wasinhissoul– as soonasheopenedhismouthhisvoicewas incredible.Butthiswasa periodofa lotof pressure– allofa suddenyou’resignedto Columbia,you’vegotthebigmanlooking overyourshoulder.Whenhewouldgoout andplay,it wasmostlycovers.Therewasn’t muchoriginalstuff,andhewasn’tvery securewithit either.So[Columbia’s] Steve BerkowitzandI gothimdowntomystudiofor threedays,torecorda ‘tableofcontents’for Columbia, to show what he could play. After

thefirstdayI remembersayingtomyself, ‘Thiskid’samazing,buthowdoyoumakea recordwithhim?’Becausehe’dgofromÉdith PiaftoLedZeppelintoBobDylan...Theywere slatedtostartworkingonGraceinthelate summer– youdon’tcomeupwithcareer- definingmaterialinsixmonths.Sotherewas a lotofpressureontheguy.Onthefirstdayhe wasveryuptightbecausehe’ddoa songtwo orthreetimestryingtogetit right,andthen finallyafterfourorfivehourshe’slike, “That’sallI’vegot,goodbye.”SoBerkowitz waslike,“Hangon,don’tyouknowsomeSly coversorsomething?”Andthat’swhenhedid “EverydayPeople”,andit seemedtobreak throughforhim.Allofa suddenhewas havingfuninthestudio.Heloosenedup,we werejokingaround,a lotofsillystories on tape.It wasamazing to witness.

RECORDED:BEARSVILLE,WOODSTOCK,

1993/1994

RELEASED:GRACE,AUGUST23, 1994

ThestunningtitletrackofBuckley’sonly fullalbum,written with early collaborator GaryLucas GARYLUCAS(guitarist,co-writer):I’d written“RiseUpToBe”a coupleofmonths beforemeetingJeffattheStAnn’sconcertin 1991.I wouldcompilepiecesontotapeand mailthemtoJeffinLA.Jeffcalledmeassoon ashegotthemandsaid,“They’rebeautiful, I’mgonnagotoworkonthem.”Hecameover nexttimehewasinNewYork,ona veryhumid, steamynight,andsaid,“Youknowthatone called‘RiseUpToBe’?Nowit’scalled‘Grace’.” Hewhippedouta notebookandstarted singing.Wewereonthesamewavelength; it was like a supernatural collaboration.